KL Rahul is finally out of his shell. After three consecutive failures, Rahul scored a 32-ball 50 against Bangladesh to gain back his lost rhythm. And everyone knows what happens when KL is on the song. The right-handed batter, after a cautious start, thrashed Bangladesh bowlers all around the park. His main target was Shoriful Islam who was brought in to strengthen the pace attack.
Rahul hit his first six against Islam on the fifth ball of the second over of India’s innings. He hit another against Hasan Mahmud in the fourth over. Rahul then waited for Islam to come back into the attack and when the bowlers came to bowl the 9th over, Rahul cashed in. He thwacked a length delivery from the pacer over long-on for a 96-metre six.
It was a typical KL Rahul shot- pure timing, minimum effort but maximum result. Virat Kohli, who himself is known for hitting audacious shots, also showed his admiration for the shot. Kohli followed the trajectory of the shot and when he saw it landing way back into the stands, Kohli could not believe it. The non-striker has his eyed wide open and a sense of disbelief on his face.
Coming to Rahul’s inning, it was a well-paced half-century from the opening batter. Although Rahul started slowly, he accelerated as soon as there was a chance. The batter hit a half-century in 31 balls but got out on the very next ball against Shakib Al Hasan. Rahul hit three boundaries and four sixes in his inning. On the back of Rahul’s half-century and another half-century from Kohli, India posted 184/6 in their 20 overs.
Kohli scored a 44-ball 64* with the help of eight boundaries and a six. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav scored a quickfire 30 off 16 balls. R Ashwin also chipped in with a 6-ball 13*.